Ko Hyun-jung: More at Ease in Her 30s

Ko Hyun-jung is to make her big screen debut 16 years after she started acting. The film, "A Woman on the Beach" directed by Hong Sang-soo, goes on release on Aug. 31. Ko told the Chosun Ilbo her thoughts about her life and craft.

Ko Hyun-jung

◆ This is your first appearance on the big screen since you made your debut in 1989.

-- Many people around me warned me that acting in a movie is different from a TV drama, but I didn't really see the difference. But after starting a mini-series for MBC last week, I realized that acting in the film had drained me. I had to cry for my first scene in the drama but couldn't, even when the crew spent two or three hours creating the right atmosphere on the set. I thought that I was really good at crying scenes, but I just couldn't.

◆ Beside acting, did you realize any difference between movie and drama in terms of system?

-- Let me say that I feel like I am at my parent's home when acting for soap operas and at my parents-in-law's home when acting for movies. When it comes to movies, staff will be very nice to you but they are cold-blooded when making requests.

◆ You are the biggest star among the actors in Hong's films so far, but you agreed to be in the film for a trivial sum compared to what you can expect to earn in other films.

-- The film would have cost more than W3 billion (US$1=W959) if it paid all of its actors, actresses and crew their due, but it was actually produced with just half of that money. You just can't pursue your own interest and also take circumstances around you into account. I think that all the people who took part in the movie made the best choice.

◆ You are well over 30 now. When do you feel as if you are still in your 20's and when do you accept that you are over 30 years old now?

-- When I meet a man, I feel like I am still in my 20s (smiles). When you turn 30, you have less and less of those moments when you hate or love something extremely. And you feel that you can understand anything when you get to know the reason. I don't like those obscure feelings, but the fact that I have those feelings shows that I'm getting older. When I was in my 20s, I was so mature and I restrained myself from things that I wanted to do and wanted to have. But I don't like to keep repeating that mistake until I'm 40.

◆ After news came out that KBS anchor No Hyun-jung is getting married to a man from the Hyundai Group owner family, people joked that the name "Hyun-jung" is the prerequisite for marrying a rich man from a chaebol family. Since you experienced living as a member of a chaebol family, do you have any advice for women like No who follow suit? (Ko married Chung Yong-jin, Shinsegae vice president and a relative of the Samsung Group owner family, in 1995. Their marriage ended in 2003.)

-- I'm not sure if you'll believe me, but when I got married to my ex-husband, I didn't think much about the fact that he came from a chaebol family. It was my first relationship with someone I really loved and I just liked it. I couldn't imagine that my being a celebrity and him being a rich man could be a source of problems in our marriage. But when I'd been married for some time, I realized there were many more things that mattered in marriage other than the relationship between wife and husband. I was faced with trouble again and again in the process when two different families unite as one. I hope No doesn't follow my example and has a happy marriage.